Early Scholarly Works

November 26th, 2008 by Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad

Whoever possesses the following three qualities attains the sweetness of faith: To have Allah and His Messenger dearer to him than anything else, to love a person only for the sake of Allah, and to hate to return to kufr after Allah has rescued him from it like he hates to be thrown into fire.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

I heard Sheikul-Islam saying:

If you don’t find sweetness and joy in the deed you perform, then doubt its sincerity, for Allah is Shakur (Most Appreciative and Rewarding).

He meant that Allah will certainly reward His servant for his deeds in this world as long as the servant is delighted and happy with his deeds. But if he doesn’t find the delight and the joy in his heart, then his deed is imperfect, defective.

This imperfection and defectiveness is the reward of what the servant receives for his deeds. Deeds have consequences and effects that return to the servant that performed them, affecting his life and all of his affairs. Prayer (salah), for example, prevents the servant from unlawful and evil deeds. It also refines his morals and brings him up in the best manner that Allah loves.

Fasting (Siyam) strengthens his will and enlightens self-reproach and insight, so the person may see the straight path and become among the righteous. Such are all the good and righteous deeds, they have a reward that affords prosperity in all of man’s affairs. As a result, family life and the society become joyful and prosperous. The evil deeds have their consequences as well. Allah said, “For those who have done good is best (reward).” [10:26] and “The evil was the end of those who did evil.” [30:10]

The opposition in people is of three kinds. Only those that Allah protects are free from these. The first kind is the opposition to His Names and Attributes by presenting false and unclear matters. These falsities are negated because of what Allah and His Messenger have ascribed for Him. These people have ascribed to Allah what He negated for Himself. By doing so, they became loyal to His enemies and enemies to His Allies. They changed the words from the correct status and have abandoned, as a result, a great part of what was sent to them.

They are those that have divided their religion into differing sects with each group rejoicing in its belief. The only thing that protects from this is the pure submission to the wahy (Divine revelation). When the heart submits to the wahy (revelation), it will witness its soundness, realize intellectually and in the light of fitrah (sound nature) that it is the truth. Such a submissive person submits by way of hearing, the mind, and the natural disposition of humankind – fitrah. This is the most perfect faith.

The second type of person is the one who is in opposition to His Message and Command. These people can vary slightly and can be further categorized. Some may oppose with their opinions and analogies. They make lawful what Allah has made unlawful, and make unlawful what Allah has made lawful. They void what Allah has made obligatory and make obligatory what Allah has voided. Another type amongst these people are those that oppose the facts of faith and the Message with their visions, personal experiences, and false devilish inspirations. These compose a religion that Allah has not allowed, invalidate the religion that Allah sent to His Messenger, and oppose the facts of faith using the devil’s tricks. These people have religions to worship other than Allah’s religion and place these before Allah’s religion. Because of their analogies, opinions and personal experiences, the entire world could have been ruined and the pillars of the religion destroyed. But Allah has preserved this religion and promised to protect those that will preserve and protect it from the plots of these plotters.

Another group of those in opposition are those that oppose the Law of Allah with their unjust rules. They put their rules before the rules of Allah and His Messenger (s). Thus they suspend Allah’s Law, justice and His hudood (legislated punishments).

The third type of opposition is of those who oppose Allah’s actions, decrees and ordinances. This opposition comes primarily from ignorant people. It has many forms, some are clear and some are not. This kind of opposition exists within many souls. If we were to contemplate our utterances, actions and desires, we would see this clearly. Most of us have some kind of opposition to Allah’s decree and His portioning of livelihood.

The ones that are free of this type of opposition are those that know Allah with a true knowledge and accept Him with complete satisfaction.